Lips closing appliance for corpses



Julie 13, 1939. AEBER 2,162,612

LIPS CLOSING APPLIANCE FOR CORPSES Filed Nov. 8, 1937 amen bow v 6'4 ro/v {FEE/P7:

Patented June 13, 1939 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

In the preparation of human bodies for burial, one of the difiiculties experienced in creating a natural appearance of the face of a corpse has to do with the maintaining the lips closed. The

tendency of the, mouth, and therefore the lips, in death, is to become separated, and mechanical means have heretofore been resorted to for holding the mouth closed.

In order to close the lips of the corpse and maintain them closed, the most generally resorted toexpedient is toemploy a needle and stitching for connecting 'thecentral membrane of the nose and the lower portion of the mouth, an operation which is diff cult, times taking, and

even then is not effectivefor giving a natural appearance to the lips over the entire area thereof.

With the foregoing inmind, therefore, it has been the object of my present'invention to produce a simple appliance which may be quickly placed in position by the mortician preparing a body for burial, in order to hold. the. lips of the corpse closed with life-like naturalness.

To this end. my invention consists of a simple metallic plate structure capable of being placed in the mouth of the corpse in front of the upper and lower teeth. The plate structure is flat and therefore takes up practically no room that would give rise to protrusion of the lips in any way. From the plate structure project prongs adapted to become embedded in the flesh portions of the lips within the mouth, and by the employment of these prongs the plate structure becomes, in connection therewith, a metal membrane engaged with the lips so as to positively connect them and hold them closed together.

A further object of my invention has been to so devise the said metal plate structure that it is made of a flexible metal capable of being bent so as to shape it to the contours of the mouths of different persons, irrespective of the setting of the same in death, so long as the jaws are closed together.

Owing to the above characteristic of my lipsclosing appliance, after it has been adjusted in the mouth and its engaging members interengaged with the lips to hold them closed, it may be manipulated by being bent slightly longitudinally of the mouth openings, as well as vertically or transversely thereof in order to give to the lips as natural a position or appearance as possible.

Still another object of my invention has been to devise an appliance of the nature shown, which is of extreme simplicity of construction, so as to be readily manufactured at a relatively small cost, manipulated with great ease in being emplaced in position for use, and additionally manipulated readily after engagement with the lips of the corpse for the purposes thereof.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the appliance of the invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View of the appliance taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view, in fragmentary form, of a portion of the mouth of the corpse, showing the lips-closing appliance as when engaged with the lips for holding same closed.

Figure 4 is a general illustration of a head of a corpse, showing the manner of disposition of the lips-closing appliance by illustration of the latter in dotted lines in the mouth portion of said head.

Describing the invention specifically, in the drawing, A denotes the body of my appliance, the same being made from a somewhat rectangular piece of sheet metal having flexible characteristics so that the same is bendable in diiferent shapes as respects curvature or even angularity. The corner portions of the body A are preferablyv cut away to provide curved extremities at said portions. At the central portion of the body A the same is formed with a cut-out portion B, also rectangular in shape, and extending merely to the ends of the body. The upper and lower portions of the body A are somewhat like fiat bars or plates and wider than the end portions, because said upper and lower portions are intended to be seated beneath the lips of the corpse, and are likewise intended to carry two series of prongs l and 2, the prongs I being the outer series and the prongs 2 the inner series.

The prongs I and 2 of each adjacent series are staggered in relation to each other in order that the pointed portions of said prongs may have a very considerable extent of embedded engagement with the flesh portions of the lips of the upper and lower jaws.

When the appliance of the invention is ready for use, its prongs are inclined outwardly at a fairly considerable inclination from the plane of the body A so as to permit of ready inter-engagement of the lips with these prongs while the mouth of the corpse is closed and by mere pressure and pushing of the lips into engagement with said prongs I and 2.

It is preferred also to provide on the end portions of the body A at least two prongs, designated 3, somewhat closer together over the transverse extent of the body A than are the spaced series of prongs l and 2.

In the use of the invention the mouth of the corpse is of course necessary to be closed and maintained closed, for which purpose recourse may be had to any well known means heretofore employed. Thereupon, the body A of my appliance is placed beneath the lips of the corpse and by pressure the prongs l, 2, and 3 are interengaged with said lips to firmly hold them together and also to somewhat flatten the prongs against the plate body to ensure proper clamping and inter-engagement thereof with the flesh Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a lips closing appliance for corpses, comprising a flexible plate having spaced rows of projections extending therefrom, each row of projections adapted to be embedded in the flesh structure of the lips of a corpse.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a lips closing appliance for corpses, comprising a flexible metal plate adapted to be bent to assume different curvatures, said plate formed with lips engaging prongs.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a lips clos ing appliance of the class described, comprising a metal plate formed near its upper edge with a row of prongs inclined outwardly therefrom and formed near its lower edge with a corresponding row of prongs inclined outwardly therefrom, the direction of inclination of the prongs of the rows being toward each other, the middle portion of the plate being cut away to provide an opening and facilitating the bending or flexing of plate when applied in use.

the

4. A lips closing appliance for corpses, comprising a body adapted to be emplaced beneath the lips and having projections for embedding in the flesh structure or the lips, in which the projections are pointed prongs arranged in spaced rows at the upper and lower portions of the body, the prongs of one row being staggered in relation to the prongs of the adjacent row.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a lips closing appliance of the class described, comprising a metal plate of somewhat rectangular form and having a central opening of approximately rectangular form, thereby to provide upper and lower flat bar portions and similar flat end portions, prongs of large and small formation on eachof the upper and lower flat bar portions between the upper and lower edges of each of them, and other prongs on the fiat end portions arranged opposite the ends of the opening aforesaid and thus spaced closer together than are the prongs of the so-called upper and lower bar portions."

6.; A norm-ally flat closure for the lips of the mouth of a corpse comprising a single piece of material provided with end portions bridging across the mouth opening and adapted to contact the upper and lower lips, and prongs carried by said end portions adapted to engage the inner sides of the lips of a mouth.

7. A normally flat closure for the lips of the mouth of a corpse comprising a single piece of material provided with end portions bridging across the mouth opening and adapted to contact the upper and lower lips, connecting portions normally adapted to be positioned adjacent to the mouthopening and joining said end portions, said end portions being bendable, whereby the closure may be readily shapted to lit the indivldua-l mouth in which it is placed, and said end portions also provided with a lip attaching means.

ALTON EBERT. 

